Have you ever visited a business where you just didn’t feel welcome? Was it the people? The service? Product offerings that just didn’t click?
Or was it the bathroom?
For a lot of parents, it’s always the bathroom.
If you’re a business owner who aims to welcome families into your business, your bathroom can say a lot about how much you value your customers and their comfort - especially families.
Here are seven things you can do to make them feel more welcome.
Read: America's Best Public Bathrooms
More Space
Most businesses that provide goods and services are required to provide accessible bathrooms under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In fact, there are very specific guidelines here to ensure that at least one stall or bathroom has enough turning space for a wheelchair.
But once this requirement is met, many business owners give little thought to standard toilet stalls. These tend to be between 30 and 36 inches wide, depending on the building codes in your jurisdiction. For parents who have to bring their young children in with them, this can be a challenging space to navigate, especially when the door swings inward!
If you want to make your bathroom a more welcoming space for families, give them a little more room to move. Anyone who’s ever taken a kid into a restroom understands why this setup from Norway went viral on Reddit.
More Privacy
Toddlers, especially, are generally fearless and totally unselfconscious. They think nothing of spying on other visitors as they’re doing their business or loudly narrating what’s happening in their own stall.
According to data collected by Bradley Corporation, 70% of Americans feel that public restroom stalls lack sufficient coverage. We’re going to bet that 100% of parents with young children feel that way!
If it’s possible, provide a more private family bathroom with a real door - or at least stalls that provide as much privacy and coverage as possible.
Accessible Sinks
Toddlers are squirmy, heavy, and often uncooperative. That makes washing a toddler’s hands in a public bathroom a hard and unpleasant task for parents.
We surveyed 550 parents of young children in the United States about this. Ninety-three percent said they struggle to help their children properly wash their hands in public bathrooms.
When asked why, parents chalked their struggles up to the following:
- 89% said the sink was too high
- 77% said lifting their child up to the sink was awkward or uncomfortable
- 60% said that countertops were too wet or unhygienic for their child to sit on
- 42% found it hard to manage handwashing while dealing with other children
If you look at the statistics around handwashing in public bathrooms, that means a lot of kids aren't getting their hands washed at all. At Step ‘n Wash, we believe that everyone should be able to wash their hands. (Especially kids - they need it the most!)
Since we launched in 2007, we’ve installed more than 20,000 Step ‘n Wash steps that help children and people of short stature wash their hands independently.
Our stools fold down to help kids reach the sink, and then retract themselves, so they stay out of everyone else’s way. (And they aren't just for kids - they're a handy accommodation for people with dwarfism as well!)
Storage
The one thing parents who are trapped in a bathroom stall with young children desperately need is more arms. After all, they need at least two to keep their kids from unraveling the toilet paper, peeking under the stall, and digging through the trash bin!
Provide a hook or shelf in each bathroom stall to give people somewhere to put their personal items. This will give them one less thing to worry about while trying to manage a child and finish their business.
Private and Well-Maintained Change Tables
Diapering a screaming baby on a bathroom floor or a wet counter in a public bathroom is practically a parental rite of passage.
Although baby change tables are required in public bathrooms in New York and California as well as in federal facilities, most businesses don’t need to have them.
But businesses who aim to attract and accommodate families should install baby change tables - and make sure they are well-maintained and kept clean.
Also, it’s the 2020s. Dads change diapers too! So make sure your change tables are accessible to both men and women.
Touch-Free Fixtures
According to a survey by Bradley Corporation, 86% of people think it’s important that public bathrooms have touchless fixtures. And 70% are more likely to return to a business that has them.
If that isn’t enough of an endorsement, touchless fixtures reduce water and energy consumption, help reduce water spillage on the floor, and have lower maintenance costs.
Plus, they’re easier for a wider range of people to use - including elderly people, people with dexterity issues, and kids.
Consideration/Space for Nursing Mothers
Mothers have cried real tears at the sight of nursing rooms in public spaces. Real. Tears.
Just check out a few parenting forums. Or the number of mom blogs devoted to raving about IKEA’s family bathroom, which includes a comfy nursing space, kid-sized toilets, and accessible sinks.
In our own survey of 550 parents, 52% said they choose to visit stores and restaurants because their bathrooms are more family friendly. Parenting can be challenging enough. Parents tend to take note of anything that makes their lives easier.
PS: Keep It Squeaky Clean
Keeping a public bathroom clean isn’t easy, but it’s worth the effort. In fact, a survey by Bradley Corporation found that 60% of Americans deliberately choose to visit businesses they know have clean and well-maintained bathrooms. (A public bathroom cleaning checklist can help!)
As for parents, they know their young children will be touching everything. Knowing it’s clean can give them additional peace of mind.
Making Everyone Feel Welcome
Families have special needs. While the law may not require businesses to accommodate them, doing so is in any organization’s best interest. Designing spaces with kids and parents in mind tends to make them better for everyone, making your business the kind of place where people feel seen.
At Step ‘n Wash, our mission is to help everyone reach the sink. Adding a step stool like Step ‘n Wash is an easy step towards making any public bathroom more accessible. Just check out what people are saying about our product!
Read: How Good Public Restroom Design Contributes to a Positive Customer Experience
FAQs About Making Bathrooms Family Friendly
How can I make my public bathroom more accessible?
There are a few things you can do to make a public bathroom more accessible. They include:
- Ensure ADA Compliance: In many cases, this is the law. It can also make a bathroom more accessible for those without disabilities.
- Improve Lighting and Visibility: Ensuring a bathroom is well-lit makes it safer and easier to navigate for everyone, especially people with visual impairments.
- Install Step Stools: Floor-mounted step stools can make your restroom more accessible for children and people of short stature.
- Perform Regular Maintenance: Regular cleaning and maintenance will ensure the bathroom is well-stocked and free of debris, tripping hazards, and slippery floors.
- Consult with Accessibility Experts: If you really want to ensure that your bathroom is as accessible as possible, consider consulting with an expert who can help you create an accessible and universal bathroom design.
How to get kids to use public restrooms?
Kids avoid public bathrooms for a number of reasons. (And sometimes it’s their parents who hate taking them in there!) Here are some of the reasons why parents say they struggle to get their kids through the doors:
- Their kids are scared of the loud noises from auto-flush toilets and hand dryers.
- Their kids are sensitive to dirt and mess and have had bad experiences in public bathrooms.
- Their kids are worried about their privacy, especially in stalls with large gaps.
Many of the best public bathrooms address these issues, making these spaces more family friendly.
What is a family bathroom in public?
Businesses and organizations often label bathrooms that have been designed to accommodate families with young children as “family bathrooms.” These bathrooms tend to have more space, more privacy, and kid-friendly features like kid-sized toilets, step stools for the sinks, and baby change tables.
